A 30-year-old California woman convicted of stabbing her boyfriend 108 times during a cannabis-induced psychotic episode sparked anger among the victim's relatives because she avoided prison time while serving her sentence Tuesday.
“[Le juge] “I just gave anyone who smokes marijuana in the state of California a license to kill anyone,” Sean O'Melia, the victim's father, exclaimed in court shortly after the verdict was announced. According to the Ventura County Superior of the Ventura County, California Star.
The latter accused Judge David Worley of bias when he handed Bryn Spejcher a sweet sentence of two years probation and 100 hours of community service on Tuesday. The woman was convicted by a jury of manslaughter for stabbing her new boyfriend Chad O'Melia, 26, 108 times in May 2018.
During her hearing this morning in Ventura Co Superior Court, Bryn Spejcher was sentenced to two years probation and no prison time. A jury found Spejcher guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month. @TOAcornNews pic.twitter.com/f8jWjwj6cw
— Michael Coons (@Michael_Coons) January 24, 2024
The verdict was greeted in the courtroom with several “Oh my Gods” from the victim's relatives, who couldn't believe their ears after putting up signs outside the court denouncing a “serious crime,” according to local media.
But according to the judge, the woman, who turns 33 on Thursday, “no longer had control over her actions” after being pressured and intimidated by her partner to consume more cannabis, which left her in a state of ” “involuntary poisoning,” according to his lawyers.
Except that under California criminal law, a person is responsible for his or her actions when his or her abilities are impaired by alcohol or drugs, unless the intoxication is involuntary, the Ventura County Star explained.
When first responders arrived at the scene, the hysterical woman was screaming while holding the knife used to stab her boyfriend and her dog, which she in turn plunged into her neck.
Friends and family of Chad O'Melia – who was stabbed to death on May 28, 2018 – protest outside the #VenturaCounty Supreme Court before tomorrow's verdict.
Convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Bryn Spejcher faces up to four years in prison. pic.twitter.com/I2rUQj3VSW
– Makena Huey (@MakenaHuey) January 22, 2024
During the sentencing on Tuesday, the 30-year-old tearfully apologized to the victim's father and relatives, who had allegedly repeatedly accused him of showing no remorse.
“My actions have torn your family apart. I am broken and hurt inside. “It hurts me to know that you will never see Chad again,” she whispered to the packed hall, according to local media.
Her attorney, Bob Schwartz, praised the “fair and courageous” decision after the woman was described by her loved ones as a licensed audiologist who had “worked her whole life to help others.”